Lost Boy
by my-cat-ate-my-homework
Summary: Madge. Gale. Both lost after Katniss and Peeta died in the 74th Hunger Games. Gale, reluctant to admit to Madge that he feels anything is hurting the most, but of course won't accept any help. Even if Madge can tell he's suffering. Eventual fluff. rated T just in case.


**A/N: Heloo Lovelys! I hope you like this story, it's just an idea I had late at night. I haven't written anything other than papers for school and it's rather boring, so I thought I'd flex my writing chops. I'm so sorry if you are a follower of mine and you've been missing my writing, I've been so busy with school. Anyways, R &R as always :)**

 **P.S. sorry it is such a short chapter, hopefully next time it will be longer.**

 _Never would I ever have imagined my life would have ended this way. I always thought I would live out my twilight years on the bench of a piano, my fingers playing a sweet melody as my grandchildren played nearby. I imagined I would die in my sleep at the age of 96; not in The Hunger Games, fighting for my life at the age of 17. No… I'm supposed to go on and stress about final exams and cry because my only friend died in The Hunger Games, but go on because Katniss would hate the thought of anyone crying for her and finish school and fall in love and get my heart broken… I was supposed to experience life… For the both of us…_

I felt the wetness of my tears as they streamed down my face. I opened my eyes to see near pitch black, the light of the moon illuminated the white curtains that hung over my window beside my bed. Suddenly reality came back to me in a rush and I realized I was safe my my room. _It was only a dream_ , I thought as I dabbed my cheeks with the sleeve of my light blue nightgown. I took a shaky, deep breath in as I turned my body to sit up, and hung my feet off the bed. I stood up and went over to the window. As I moved the thin curtain to the side to look out onto the dark street, I saw a tall figure in dark clothes, just barely illuminated by the moon. He was facing away from my house, and was leaning against a mailbox. I don't know what he was doing, he seemed to be watching the sky, with his hooded head tilted up. He stood like that for a few minutes, then looked down. Suddenly, he turned and started walking to my house. My eyes widened, my mind raced, as I immediately assumed he was a psychopath coming to kill me.

I turned on my heel as the figure made a B-line to my back yard. I crept through the silent house, trying not to wake my parents. I made my way to the kitchen. The back door was there, where I could look to see who it was. I peeked through to the dim back yard. The sun was just barely starting to rise, but hardly enough to see any easier. The figure came around the side of the house, and I got a look of their face. Gale.

Just then, I remembered I was supposed to be awake so I could buy strawberries from him. Even after Katniss died, he still sold me strawberries so he could give the gold to Katniss' mom and Primrose. _It's sweet, really…_ I immediately threw that thought out because he wasn't doing it to be sweet, he was doing it so they could survive.

I turned to a drawer beside the stove where we kept small amounts of gold, and gathered enough in a bag. The gold felt light in my hand, reminding me how heavy it would feel in his. The thought made me want to slip a few more coins in, but Gale would know that there was more than usual and he would get suspicious. So I didn't.

A soft knock on the door, and I was already opening it when his large hand was making the motion. He looked slimmer, almost frail yet still strong as an oxe. His dark eyes clouded at the sight of me, his brow furrowed and his lips pursed. He almost looked concerned.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked in a cynical tone, the bite of it nipped at me like the chilly night wind.

"What do you mean?" I asked, then realized I was drenched with sweat and my tone was wavering. I tried to stand more steadily and calm my nerves, but the effort was futile.

He scoffed at my pitiful attempt at looking alright, then said, "Here's your strawberries." He shoved bag of strawberries into my arms, making me waver, then took the gold out of my hand. And just like that, he strode off into the dark.

I closed the door, then fully aware of how shaky I was. I set the bag on the island, and went back to bed.

The satin sheets stuck to my sweaty skin, and the wind shook the tree outside. I exhaled a long breath, and tried to think of better times. It was going to be a long week.


End file.
